Philips Speechmike 5276

Okay, let me start off by saying that I Do Not work for Phillips. And while I realize that this is a very expensive product, its value far outweighs its price. Over the last several years I have probably spent at least $200 on various microphones, trying to find one that would work satisfactorily with Dragon Naturally Speaking. I wish I had known that this little device was all I needed.I've always loved Dragon (now on v.10), but it's long been a frustrating love-hate relationship. Because as amazing as the program clearly was, it was always such a frustrating experience to try and dictate any sort of statement, letter or memo due to the inevitable and unavoidable little errors (numerous errors!) that you have to be constantly correcting. But now, with this truly miraculous little microphone, those errors are almost a thing of the past.And while it might seem awkward to some to actually hold the microphone in your hand, it's so natural and effortless that it's entirely comfortable and I would never dream of going back to wearing a typical headset-mic, which is usually uncomfortable or else awkward to take on and off, whenever you have to step away.I've had this new microphone now for 3 days and I've probably used Dragon for more in those 3 days than I have in the past 6 months. Anywhere that I have to type anything more than a sentence or two, I just reach for the mic.It uses a USB connection, and so I just unplug it when I'm leaving the office, and then I just plug it back in to my desktop PC once I get home. Then it just sits there, ready for when I need to compose an e-mail or dictate a comment (like this one).At work I'm constantly composing and replying to e-mails from clients or co-workers, and in just two days this device has already increased my productivity and responsiveness. Also, by virtue of the fact that it is handheld, you're able to use it more discreetly than you would a typical headset mic, where you can end up talking louder than you realize because it's harder to regulate your volume with one ear covered.Also, by virtue of it being handheld you don't have to worry about your breathing or a stray cough inadvertently activating it, the way you might with a standard headset mic. If you need to cough or exhale heavily you just turn your head, hold the mic away and you're good to go.At work I was showing it off to everyone, and they were naturally impressed. But the one thing we noted was that there is probably one situation where you likely don't want to use the Dragon program, regardless of the microphone: This would likely be with children who are high school age or younger. The reason being that they might never learn how to spell properly, because Dragon never makes a mistake (except occasionally in 'context').But back to this miraculous microphone. Yes, it's a lot of money. But the minute you hold this device in your hand you realize the quality. I showed it to some friends and they couldn't even figure out what it was until I told him. It's sort of like when you step into a luxury automobile and you just say, "Wow!" Similarly, you can just tell that this thing is Quality.I've tried some handheld mics in the past, and generally just touching the outer body would trigger the mic element to pick up a sound. Or else their directional capabilities would be out of whack. But not so with this baby. It's not 'Too' sensitive that it picks up your handling the mic body, and it's directional mic seems to pick up exactly where your voice is coming from, while it ignores or cancels other extraneous noise.In fact, since this review is starting to get a little long, and I'm now getting a bit tired of holding the mic, I've set it down on a slightly raised area of my desk and I'm dictating directly into the open air (as if I were on the bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise) and the mic is picking everything up without missing a beat.Granted, I did increase the volume of my voice just slightly, but otherwise I'm sitting here speaking into the air and everything I say is going straight to the page before me.I'm a big-time techno-geek but still I have to marvel at what I'm witnessing.Honestly, I wish I had this device several years ago. I can only imagine how much greater my productivity would have been. And if you think you need something like this, believe me, You Do! If you have to beg, borrow or save (don't steal) in order to pay the $300, just do it. As I described earlier, I probably spent close to a much over the years on various mic solutions that just never worked out.btw, another reviewer wrote that he liked the mic, but described some issues with the software interface. Actually, in my case I never even installed the software. I've just plugged it straight into my home PC and office PC, where Windows automatically detected it, and I'm just using it as a "dumb" microphone (which it certainly isn't, but you know what I mean).Eventually, when I have time, I'll install the interface program, mostly just so that I can program the function keys to do basic things inside Dragon. But otherwise, no worries.Sorry that this review dragged on for so long, but as you can see, I'm gushing.Thank you, Phillips, for a truly, truly brilliant and marvelous product.

TERRIBLE HORRIBLE customer service. Tried to upgrade the firmware, things didn't go well and now I have a non-functioning mike. Tried contacting Philips customer non-service - 10 emails back and forth later it still doesn't work. The last email informs me that I will need an XP 32 machine to get it to work. XP!! you know - that OS MS has stopped supporting and who has it on their machine anyway. Begged for a phone call - no such luck. I have reinstalled the drivers on my machine, I have tried an XP machine that my computer geek neighbor still keeps around. I have asked several times if there is a way to reset the mike to factory defaults without using the Philips controller - which isn't recognizing the mike - and apparently there isn't. NEVER again will I buy a Philips mike. I'll make do with the one that comes in the box or get another company's product.Which is really a shame b/c I liked the product a lot. But a good product with terrible customer service becomes a bad product.

I could not get mine to work. I downloaded the driver, but stioll have never been able to use it. At no time has any computer I have tried it on has recognized it. Useless.... disappointed.

This is a handheld microphone. I know that these work well and we get them for Doctors to use with Dragon, but I don't understand the cost of these things. Seems like they could get the price down a little. Aside from the price it is well made and works well. The buttons are sturdy and wear well, the one thing that I have had problems with is the cable. We usually end up reinforcing them with hot glue.

I got the microphone to work with Dragon Naturally speaking and with Powerscribe ( a radiology Voice Recognition product based on Dragon SDK). It does not work with current version of Powerscribe (5.0) and does not work with Dragon versions before 9.0. You can program buttons but it does not import automatically. It does not recognize that Dragon 8 or earlier is even on the computer, despite the box saying "dragon compatible".Once you get the buttons programmed, it works as expected (with Dragon). You can control programs on your PC with it, and there are four programmable buttons. I am still working out macros and if they are possible. It relies on a control program issued by Philips which is a bit clunky. It is comfortable to use. There is a scroll wheel and a round globe-like ball to mouse control--both very nice features.Compared to the Dictaphone PowerMic II, this is a much more comfortable microphone to use and controlling the mouse with it is much better. The Powermic II has this little joystick which is very tough to use.I'd recommend it, but know what you are getting.

Tom, Bill & Carlos are superb! Customer service, excellent. We use these microphones with various software and they are able to explain our options and offer additional suggestions - way beyond what I expected. I have found a speech mike vendor that I will stick with for the forseeable future. Thank you all, and Happy New Year! Susan

For the medical professional using Dragon Medical (10.2) this is an absolute must!Dragon Medical takes time and patience on your part or you will give up before you discover its true value. And you need the best mike to record your voice so the program can adapt to your unique speaking voice.I tried several mikes: one that came with my last Dell desktop and one that I purchased for $32 at Best Buy (Gigaware). The $250 for this Philips product was clearly superior in voice to text recognition as well as ease of use.I read the Amazon review posted on this product before I made this purchase - all of the reviewer's claims were substantiated by my use within the first month.